Hydrogen storage and delivery: Review of the state of the art technologies and risk and reliability analysis

Among all introduced green alternatives, hydrogen, due to its abundance and diverse production sources is becoming an increasingly viable clean and green option for transportation and energy storage. Governments are considerably funding relevant researches and the public is beginning to talk about hydrogen as a possible future fuel. Hydrogen production, storage, delivery, and utilization are the key parts of the Hydrogen Economy (HE). In this paper, hydrogen storage and delivery options are discussed thoroughly. Then, since safety and reliability of hydrogen infrastructure is a necessary enabling condition for public acceptance of these technologies and any major accident involving hydrogen can be difficult to neutralize, we review the main existing safety and reliability challenges in hydrogen systems. The current state of the art in safety and reliability analysis for hydrogen storage and delivery technologies is discussed, and recommendations are mentioned to help providing a foundation for future risk and reliability analysis to support safe, reliable operation.     

Hydrogen strategy as an energy transition and economic transformation avenue for natural gas exporting countries: Qatar as a case study

In the wake of the apparent impacts of climate change, the world is searching for clean energy transformations and a consequent transition to a carbon-neutral economy and life. The intermittent nature of renewable energy sources introduces several risks, and efficient energy storage technologies are developed to circumvent such issues. However, these storage methods also come with additional costs and uncertainties. Hydrogen is considered a viable option as an energy carrier and storage medium, offering versatility to the energy mix. This study reviews hydrogen production, storage, transmission, and applications avenues, describes the current global hydrogen market and compares national hydrogen strategies. A framework for evaluating the relative competitiveness of natural gas-exporting countries as hydrogen exporters is developed. Qatar's national hydrogen strategy should focus on blue and turquoise hydrogen production in the short/medium term with a mix of green hydrogen in the future term and investment in technological research and development to compete with other gas exporters that have abundant renewable energy potential.     

Development of a renewable hydrogen economy: Optimization of existing technologies

There is an increasing need for new and greater sources of energy for future global transportation applications. One recognized possibility for a renewable, clean source of transportation fuels is solar radiation collected and converted into useable forms of electrical and/or chemical (hydrogen) energy. This paper describes methods for utilizing and combining existing technologies into systems that optimize solar energy collection and conversion into useful transportation fuels. Photovoltaic (PV)-electrolysis (solar hydrogen) and PV-battery charging systems described in this paper overcome inefficiencies inherent in past concepts, where DC power from the PV system was first converted to AC current and then used to power electrical devices at the point of generation, or fed back to the grid to reduce electricity costs. These past, non-optimized concepts included efficiency losses in power conversion and unnecessary costs. These drawbacks can be avoided by capitalizing on the unique feature of solar photovoltaic devices that match their maximum power point to the operating point of an electrolyzer or a battery charger without intervening power transformers. This concept is illustrated for two systems designed, built, and tested by General Motors for fueling a fuel cell electric vehicle and charging an automotive propulsion battery. Based on this research, we propose a scenario in which individual home-owners, businesses, or sites at remote locations with no grid electricity, can capture solar energy, store it as hydrogen generated via water electrolysis, or as electrical energy used to charge storage batteries. Such a decentralized energy system provides a home refueling option for drivers who only travel limited distances each day.     

Hydrogen supply chain and challenges in large-scale LH2 storage and transportation

Hydrogen is considered to be one of the fuels of future and liquid hydrogen (LH2) technology has great potential to become energy commodity beyond LNG. However, for commercial widespread use and feasibility of hydrogen technology, it is of utmost importance to develop cost-effective and safe technologies for storage and transportation of LH2 for use in stationary applications as well as offshore transportation. This paper reviews various aspects of global hydrogen supply chain starting from several ways of production to storage and delivery to utilization. While each these aspects contribute to the overall success and efficiency of the global supply chain, storage and delivery/transport are the key enablers for establishing global hydrogen technology, especially while current infrastructure and technology are being under development. In addition, while all storage options have their own advantages/disadvantages, the LH2 storage has unique advantages due to the familiarity with well-established LNG technology and existing hydrogen technology in space programs. However, because of extremely low temperature constraints, commercialization of LH2 technology for large-scale storage and transportation faces many challenges, which are discussed in this paper along with the current status and key gaps in the existing technology.     

Hydrogen: automotive fuel of the future

This work presents a perspective on the production and use of hydrogen as an automotive fuel. Hydrogen has been hailed as the key to a clean energy future primarily because it can be produced from a variety of energy sources, it satisfies all energy needs, it is the least polluting, and it is the perfect carrier for solar energy in that it affords solar energy a storage medium. Efforts are underway to transform the global transportation energy economy from one dependent on oil to that based on sustainable hydrogen. The rationale behind these efforts is that hydrocarbon-based automobiles are a significant source of air pollution, while hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles produce effectively zero emissions. Besides the transportation area, fuel cells can also reduce emissions in other applications such as the residential or commercial distributed electricity generation. Hydrogen is the perfect partner for electricity, and together they create an integrated energy system based on distributed power generation and use. A discussion on the sources of hydrogen in the near- and long-term future as well as the cost of hydrogen production is provided.     

Recent advances in ammonia synthesis technologies: Toward future zero carbon emissions

As a carbon-free molecule, ammonia has gained great global interest in being considered a significant future candidate for the transition toward renewable energy. Numerous applications of ammonia as a fuel have been developed for energy generation, heavy transportation, and clean, distributed energy storage. There is a clear global target to achieve a sustainable economy and carbon neutrality. Therefore, most of the research's efforts are concentrated on generating cost-effective renewable energy on a large scale rather than fossil fuels. However, storage and transportation are still roadblocks for these technologies, for example, hydrogen technologies. Ammonia could be replaced as a viable fuel for a clean and sustainable future of global energy. More efforts from governments and scientists can lead to making ammonia a clean energy vector in most energy applications. In this review, ammonia synthesis was assessed, including conventional Haber–Bosch technology. Current hydrogen technologies as the key parameters for ammonia generation are also evaluated. The role of ammonia as a hydrogen-based fuel and generation roadmap are discussed for future utilization of energy mix. Further, ammonia generation processes are addressed in depth, including blue and green ammonia generation. A survey of ammonia synthesis catalytic materials was conducted and the role of catalyst materials in ammonia generation was compared, which showed that the Ru-based catalyst generated the maximum ammonia after 20 h of starting experiment. An end-use plan for using ammonia as a clean energy fuel in vehicles, marines, gas turbines as well as fuel cells, is briefly discussed to recognize the potential applications of ammonia use. The practical and future end-use vision of energy sources is proposed to achieve great benefits at low carbon emissions and costs. This review can provide prospective knowledge of large-scale aspects and environmental considerations of ammonia. Herein, we conclude that ammonia will become the “clean energy carrier link” that will achieve the global energy and economy sustainability targets.     

氢——未来的绿色燃料

石油燃料在几十年内逐渐耗尽,而燃料电池以其高效、清洁的特点将会成为未来交通的推动力.本文对可再生绿色能源载体--氢的研制方法进行了研究,详细阐述了两种制氢的工艺过程--热化学工艺和电解水工艺过程.给出了氢气的四种储存方法,其中金属氢化物和碳质吸附储氢两种方法,由于安全可靠,储存效率较高,是目前广泛研究的储氢方式.本文综述了氢能系统的各项技术,并对未来的发展趋势作了展望.     

Thermo-economic analysis of a hydrogen production system by sodium borohydride (NaBH4)

In the spectrum of current energy possibilities, hydrogen represents a solution of great interest toward a future sustainable energy system. No single technology can sustain the energy needs of the whole society, but integration and hybridization are two key strategic features for viable energy production based in hydrogen economy.In the present work, a hydrogen energy model is analyzed. In this model hydrogen is produced through the electrolysis of water, taking advantage of the electrical energy produced by a renewable generator (photovoltaic panels). The produced hydrogen is chemically stored by the synthesis of sodium borohydride (NaBH₄). NaBH₄ promising features in terms of safety and high volumetric density are exploited for transportation to a remote site where hydrogen is released from NaBH₄ hydrolysis and used for energy production.This model is compared from an economic standpoint with the traditional hydrogen storage and transportation technology (compressed hydrogen in tanks).This paper presents a thermodynamic and economic analysis of the process in order to determine its economic feasibility. Data employed for the realization of the model have been gathered from recent important progresses made on the subject.The innovative plant including NaBH₄ synthesis and transportation is compared from an economic standpoint with the traditional hydrogen storage and transportation technology (compressed hydrogen in tanks). As a final point, the best technology and the components' optimal sizes are evaluated for both cases in order to minimize production costs.     

Large-vscale hydrogen production and storage technologies: Current status and future directions

Over the past years, hydrogen has been identified as the most promising carrier of clean energy. In a world that aims to replace fossil fuels to mitigate greenhouse emissions and address other environmental concerns, hydrogen generation technologies have become a main player in the energy mix. Since hydrogen is the main working medium in fuel cells and hydrogen-based energy storage systems, integrating these systems with other renewable energy systems is becoming very feasible. For example, the coupling of wind or solar systems hydrogen fuel cells as secondary energy sources is proven to enhance grid stability and secure the reliable energy supply for all times. The current demand for clean energy is unprecedented, and it seems that hydrogen can meet such demand only when produced and stored in large quantities. This paper presents an overview of the main hydrogen production and storage technologies, along with their challenges. They are presented to help identify technologies that have sufficient potential for large-scale energy applications that rely on hydrogen. Producing hydrogen from water and fossil fuels and storing it in underground formations are the best large-scale production and storage technologies. However, the local conditions of a specific region play a key role in determining the most suited production and storage methods, and there might be a need to combine multiple strategies together to allow a significant large-scale production and storage of hydrogen.     

A critical review on the current technologies for the generation,storage, and transportation of hydrogen

Hydrogen production, storage, and transportation are the key issues to be addressed to realize a so-called clean and sustainable hydrogen economy. Various production methods, storage methods, and hydrogen transportations have been listed in the literature, along with their limitations. Therefore, to summarize the state of the art of these proposed technologies, a detailed discussion on hydrogen production, storage, and transportation is presented in this review. Also, to discuss the recent advancements of these methods including, hydrogen production, storage, and transportation on their kinetics, cyclic behavior, toxicity, pressure, thermal response, and cost-effectiveness. Moreover, new techniques such as ball milling, ultrasonic irradiation, ultrasonication, alloying, additives, cold rolling, alloying, and plasma metal reaction have been highlighted to address those drawbacks.Furthermore, the development of modern hydrogen infrastructure (reliability, safety, and low cost) is needed to scale up hydrogen delivery. This review summarizes promising techniques to enhance kinetic hydrogen production, storage, and transportation. Nevertheless, the search for the materials is still far from meeting the aimed target for production, storage, and transportation application. Therefore, more investigations are needed to identify promising areas for future H₂ production, storage, and transportation developments.     

中国规模化氢能供应链的经济性分析

目的 文章研究规模化氢能供应链的经济性,未来十年,氢能作为战略能源将会重构社会的能源结构,并影响未来社会能源总成本。预测大规模氢能时代的制氢、储氢、输氢、分销、应用的成本,和市场化的趋势有着重要的意义。氢气由于高储运成本,用途、品质的多样性,氢气市场存在分层结构。分析氢能与常规能源的可比价格,提出原油当量价格(POE)的概念,预测未来氢能价格的合理区间。解决供应链问题是获得低成本氢能的关键,由此提出干线门站模式,解决绿氢的资源分布与长距离输送氢能的问题。 方法 利用平准化氢气成本(LCOH)分析模型,测算大型光伏制氢管道输氢LCOH,分析大规模可再生能源制氢输氢的经济性。利用氢能供应链的储、输、卸六个象限成本公式,分析气氢、液氢、固氢、有机氢、管道氢等不同储运技术,短距离氢储运成本,分析门站后输氢的场景和成本,预测短距离输氢的成本趋势。 结果 研究表明：我国有丰富的绿氢资源,随着投资下降,预计大规模绿氢管道输送的城市门站LCOH将低于2.0 RMB/Nm³,将成为未来主要的氢源。当前,氢储运技术气氢、液氢、甲醇、合成氨、有机氢、固氢、管道氢,随着规模的增加实现远距离输送。在现有的技术下,城市门站到终端的输送,氢短距输送（<100 km）测算成本都在1.2 RMB/Nm³以下,由此评估的氢能供应链的总成本,干线门站模式下氢能最终到达终端的价格约为3.2 RMB/Nm³,当量价格POE与汽油价格接近,考虑燃料电池的能效因素,氢能汽车在4.0 RMB/Nm³的氢价下,具有比汽油车更低的百公里燃料费用。 结论 因此,氢能作为战略能源,在无补贴的情况下实现中国氢能源的绿氢替代,在技术经济上是可行的。     

Modeling charge transfer in a PEM fuel cell using solar hydrogen

Hydrogen is an energy carrier that can be used in industry, residences, transportation, and mobile applications. One of the main attractions for hydrogen is the environmental advantage over fossil fuels. However, Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells, (PEMFC), is an integral part of the future hydrogen economy, they are highly efficient and a low-polluting technology. Numerous applications exist; one of the promising applications is the automotive industry. For this report a comprehensive literature survey is conducted. The findings of the literature survey include hydrogen production and fuel cell models that fit into two broad categories, that is, analytical and empirical. This work is a presentation of our original research and development regarding the production and utilization of a solar hydrogen and its use in a PEM single cell. In order to facilitate the understanding of the charge transfer phenomena in the PEM single cell, a modeling tool with visual basic was developed. All the experiences and results were illustrated in this work.     

Hydrogen electrolyser technologies and their modelling for sustainable energy production: A comprehensive review and suggestions

The advancement of hydrogen technology is driven by factors such as climate change, population growth, and the depletion of fossil fuels. Rather than focusing on the controversy surrounding the environmental friendliness of hydrogen production, the primary goal of the hydrogen economy is to introduce hydrogen as an energy carrier alongside electricity. Water electrolysis is currently gaining popularity because of the rising demand for environmentally friendly hydrogen production. Water electrolysis provides a sustainable, eco-friendly, and high-purity technique to produce hydrogen. Hydrogen and oxygen produced by water electrolysis can be used directly for fuel cells and industrial purposes. The review is urgently needed to provide a comprehensive analysis of the current state of water electrolysis technology and its modelling using renewable energy sources. While individual methods have been well documented, there has not been a thorough investigation of these technologies. With the rising demand for environmentally friendly hydrogen production, the review will provide insights into the challenges and issues with electrolysis techniques, capital cost, water consumption, rare material utilization, electrolysis efficiency, environmental impact, and storage and security implications. The objective is to identify current control methods for efficiency improvement that can reduce costs, ensure demand, increase lifetime, and improve performance in a low-carbon energy system that can contribute to the provision of power, heat, industry, transportation, and energy storage. Issues and challenges with electrolysis techniques, capital cost, water consumption, rare material utilization, electrolysis efficiency, environmental impact, and storage and security implications have been discussed and analysed. The primary objective is to explicitly outline the present state of electrolysis technology and to provide a critical analysis of the modelling research that had been published in recent literatures. The outcome that emerges is one of qualified promise: hydrogen is well-established in particular areas, such as forklifts, and broader applications are imminent. This evaluation will bring more research improvements and a road map to aid in the commercialization of the water electrolyser for hydrogen production. All the insights revealed in this study will hopefully result in enhanced efforts in the direction of the development of advanced hydrogen electrolyser technologies towards clean, sustainable, and green energy.     

Analysis of Ontario's hydrogen economy demands from hydrogen fuel cell vehicles

The ‘Hydrogen Economy’ is a proposed system where hydrogen is produced from carbon dioxide free energy sources and is used as an alternative fuel for transportation. The utilization of hydrogen to power fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) can significantly decrease air pollutants and greenhouse gases emission from the transportation sector. In order to build the future hydrogen economy, there must be a significant development in the hydrogen infrastructure, and huge investments will be needed for the development of hydrogen production, storage, and distribution technologies. This paper focuses on the analysis of hydrogen demand from hydrogen FCVs in Ontario, Canada, and the related cost of hydrogen. Three potential hydrogen demand scenarios over a long period of time were projected to estimate hydrogen FCVs market penetration, and the costs associated with the hydrogen production, storage and distribution were also calculated. A sensitivity analysis was implemented to investigate the uncertainties of some parameters on the design of the future hydrogen infrastructure. It was found that the cost of hydrogen is very sensitive to electricity price, but other factors such as water price, energy efficiency of electrolysis, and plant life have insignificant impact on the total cost of hydrogen produced.     

Review on key technologies and applications of hydrogen energy storage system

随着国内以风电,太阳能为主的可再生能源快速增长,可再生能源消纳能力不足和并网困难等问题愈发突出,大规模储能系统被证实是解决该问题的有效方法.本文回顾了现有成熟储能系统的不足与限制,分析氢储能的优势特点,构建了电能链和氢产业链融合的氢储能系统,为可再生能源的进一步发展提供良策.随后对氢储能系统三个环节(制氢,储运氢,氢发电)关键技术进行了梳理,对电解槽技术,燃料电池技术和储氢材料中的关键性能进行了比较和评估.在氢储能领域,部分发达国家已经初步形成了从基础研究,应用研究到示范演示的全方位格局,本文对德国和法国的重点示范工程进行了调研,为我国未来发展氢储能的提供参考.     

An index-based risk assessment model for hydrogen infrastructure

This study focuses on the development of a risk assessment model associated with the safety of a hydrogen infrastructure system. The safety of hydrogen infrastructure is one of the crucial pre-requisites for a sustainable economy and accordingly, its design should be made based upon the performance to investigate and evaluate the risks from or out of the required infrastructure. In order to support strategic decision-making for safe hydrogen infrastructure, this study proposes an appropriate index-based risk assessment model. The model evaluates the hydrogen infrastructure using the relative risk ranking of the hydrogen activities such as hydrogen production, storage and transportation, and the relative impact levels of regions. The relative risk rankings of the hydrogen activities are rated a quantitative risk analysis, whereas the relative impact level of regions is rated based on the regional characteristics such as population density. With consideration of regional characteristics, the proposed model makes it possible not only to assess the risks of processes and technologies associated with hydrogen but also to compare the relative safety levels of the hydrogen infrastructures made up with various hydrogen activities. In order to show the features and capabilities of the model, four future hydrogen infrastructure scenarios in Korea are examined in the study. The result shows that distributed production, and mass storage and transportation via liquefied hydrogen facility are relatively safer than centralized production, and compressed-gaseous hydrogen storage and transportation, respectively.     

The future of hydrogen energy: Bio-hydrogen production technology

The widespread use of non-renewable energy has caused serious environmental problems such as global warming and the depletion of fossil fuels. Hydrogen, as a well-known carbon-free gaseous fuel, has become the most promising energy carrier for future energy. Hydrogen has an excellent mass-basis calorific value and no carbon atom contained, which makes it to be an attractive fuel for various power devices (like the internal combustion engine, gas turbine, and fuel cell). Nowadays, the production of hydrogen is still predominated by fossil-based techniques, which is considered undesirable due to low conversion efficiency and release of greenhouse gases. It is necessary to find green and sustainable hydrogen production routes with low energy consumption and cost. In this paper, the different hydrogen production technologies via fossil routes or non-fossil routes are reviewed in general, and it is found that bio-hydrogen production has certain environmental advantages and broad prospects compared with other hydrogen production technologies. Then, the characteristics and research status of different bio-hydrogen production technologies are discussed in depth. It is found that each bio-hydrogen production technique has its own advantages, challenges, and applicability. The economic analysis of bio-hydrogen energy is also performed from the aspects of production, storage, and transportation. The results show that bio-hydrogen production technology could be a good possibility way for producing renewable hydrogen, which is of high efficiency and thus competitive over other hydrogen production methods both in economics and environmental benefits.     

Cost evaluation of two potential nuclear power plants for hydrogen production

Hydrogen is recognized as one of the most promising alternative fuels to meet the energy demand for the future by providing a carbon-free solution. In regards to hydrogen production, there has been increasing interest to develop, innovate and commercialize more efficient, effective and economic methods, systems and applications. Nuclear based hydrogen production options through electrolysis and thermochemical cycles appear to be potentially attractive and sustainable for the expanding hydrogen sector. In the current study, two potential nuclear power plants, which are planned to be built in Akkuyu and Sinop in Turkey, are evaluated for hydrogen production scenarios and cost aspects. These two plants will employ the pressurized water reactors with the electricity production capacities of 4800 MW (consisting of 4 units of 1200 MW) for Akkuyu nuclear power plant and 4480 MW (consisting of 4 units of 1120 MW) for Sinop nuclear power plant. Each of these plants are expected to cost about 20 billion US dollars. In the present study, these two plants are considered for hydrogen production and their cost evaluations by employing the special software entitled “Hydrogen Economic Evaluation Program (HEEP)” developed by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which includes numerous options for hydrogen generation, storage and transportation. The costs of capital, fuel, electricity, decommissioning and consumables are calculated and evaluated in detail for hydrogen generation, storage and transportation in Turkey. The results show that the amount of hydrogen cost varies from 3.18 $/kg H₂ to 6.17 $/kg H₂.     

A figure of merit assessment of the routes to hydrogen

The efficient use of primary energy sources, which can be used for hydrogen production, is addressed by a consideration of four key measures, which reflect the ability of different sources and processing routes to meet underlying needs and the practical demands of energy on a large scale. The measures considered are carbon dioxide emission reduction, primary energy availability, land use implications and hydrogen production costs. Fourteen pathways to hydrogen are considered involving fossil fuels and nuclear energy as well as the range of renewable sources, and including additional strategies for carbon sequestration.The overall comparison of routes, based on simple figures-of-merit, shows a clear division between those using renewable energies and those associated with the traditional ‘high energy density’ primary sources. Emerging from the work is a clearer view of the implications of following a particular production path, the limitations of certain technologies and the research challenges which must be met in addressing future fuel options and global warming.     

Hydrogen production for energy: An overview

Power to hydrogen is a promising solution for storing variable Renewable Energy (RE) to achieve a 100% renewable and sustainable hydrogen economy. The hydrogen-based energy system (energy to hydrogen to energy) comprises four main stages; production, storage, safety and utilisation. The hydrogen-based energy system is presented as four corners (stages) of a square shaped integrated whole to demonstrate the interconnection and interdependency of these main stages. The hydrogen production pathway and specific technology selection are dependent on the type of energy and feedstock available as well as the end-use purity required. Hence, purification technologies are included in the production pathways for system integration, energy storage, utilisation or RE export. Hydrogen production pathways and associated technologies are reviewed in this paper for their interconnection and interdependence on the other corners of the hydrogen square.Despite hydrogen being zero-carbon-emission energy at the end-use point, it depends on the cleanness of the production pathway and the energy used to produce it. Thus, the guarantee of hydrogen origin is essential to consider hydrogen as clean energy. An innovative model is introduced as a hydrogen cleanness index coding for further investigation and development.